Call the printer: The wait for traffic licences continues

Tickets have not been received at the General Post Office.

LAHORE:

Traffic licence seekers who have been waiting for almost a month to either have a traffic licence issued or have one renewed will likely have to wait another 10 days.

In previous years too the arrival of tickets has been delayed by a week or two. This year a whole month has passed by and the GPO is still giving no clear date as to when the tickets will arrive.

Bhaghbanpura resident Muhammad Tariq said that it was his third visit to the office. He said he had still been told to come again but given no definite date. He said that he needed the driving licence badly to be eligible for a driving position he had applied for.

Majid Nizami and Sajiid Siddique, both residents of Rehmanpura, too said the delay was unfair. Nizami said he had gotten his learner’s licence 50 days back but the driving licence was being delayed for the tickets.

Chief Post Master Jalaluddin said the Printing Corporation of Pakistan had been informed of the shortage of tickets in January. He said he had been calling the office three times a day to be updated on the matter. He said he had been given no date but he hoped to have the tickets by February 15.

He said every year the tickets are printed in January and sent to the Chief Controller of Stamps who distributes them. He said that the office-to-office transaction takes a few days. He had no clue as to why there had been a longer delay this year.

Chief Traffic Officer Captain (retd) Sohail Chaudhry said some 500 learner’s licences and 150 regualr licences were issued on an average day. He said many people return home these days once they find out about the shortage of tickets. He said learner licences without tickets were being issued only at mobile stations.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2013.